melamed

Do you know if kibbeh made with a meatless shell is a Jewish preference? Most of the fried kibbeh I see use meat in the shell, or is that just a regional thing?

Could someone, or more than someone, post the spice mix recipe/suggestion. I'm guessing this is very regional/personal too. This is a fascinating topic and I really want to make the fried kibbeh. One thing that turned up in the "Week without Shopping" thread was a lot of bulgur in a couple of sizes. ← in general, the syrians use cumin in their fried kibbeh and allspice in stewed ones. The Iraqi's use baharat which I buy at the local spicestore. I don't know the exact recipe but it is heavy on cinnamon. I don't add very much because it can be over powering. Clifford Wright's recipe for baharat includes cinnamon, allspice, black pepper and nutmeg.

Lior, I will keep my eyes open for the Persian rice cooker, and I am hoping I will find one soon because I sure do love chocolates This is my first successful attempt at making tahdig in a stainless steal pot, it was very good! thanks for the help (a very big thanks goes to Shaya's grandmother!). I used clarified butter and oil to make the tahdig and layered the rest of the rice in a cone shape on top, like Shaya's pictures. I never did see any steam coming out, perhaps I didn't wait long enough (couple minutes) but didn't want to burn it again. So my next question, is it possible to remove the tahdig in one piece ? My only mistake was boiling the rice for too long (10 minutes and not 7) so the rice was stickier and more fragile than should be. Shabzi polow (herb rice)

You should change your name to kubadoo! That looks so good! How big are the kibbeh, by the size of the spoon they are tiny! How long did it take you to make them (hours?)? Can I use fresh mint instead of dried?

Thanks! Yes I am trying to do it the old fashioned way, over a wood fire. Last time I did that I made tons of smoke which blew in the direction of my neighbor's freshly laundered clothes, yikes! I didn't make any of the complicated large breads but I did make a few smaller ones my kids helped shaped. Not many know how to make the Kurdish bread anymore (they don't use the pillow), but I do have a relative who lives a few hours away who makes it for the village, I have been meaning to make a visit and learn from a pro and when I do I will post some pictures.

I bought a saj about a year ago from an Arab merchant and I am still perfecting my technique. The kurds make it with only flour, water and salt, nothing else and make dome shaped brittle bread which they stack up in the corner of the room and use throughout the week, usually wetting it before eating. Traditionally they sit on the floor and roll out the dough into a circle on a little table, and use the rolling pin to place it on the saj. This looks very easy to do, but when I tried it the saj was either too hot and burnt the bread or was too cold and got stuck to it. Making them into huge circles is also very tricky. Last weekend I tried digging a bigger hole under the saj which I want to stack with bricks for better heat retention and I hope this trick helps. There are other ways of making it such as this you tube video (and is how the local druze women do it as well) flipping the dough with your hands looks like alot of fun, but after my first try working with saj bread, I know that I will be practicing alot! Perhaps I should have gotten a gas saj like above!

I would do a normal web search as well as a google blog search. Blogs especially- found information even on much lesser known cuisines (Kurdish, Azerbaizan, Uzbeki etc). There is nothing like Oh mighty google

I use the same "pizza dough" for many things just the technique is different. I use 4 cups of bread flour (sorry I never bother measuring exactly) 1 teaspoon salt 1-2 sugar 2 teaspoons dry yeast 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil 1 1/2 water After the first rise I shape it and either let it rise again or if it's pizza just top it and pop it in the oven. To get a fluffy bread I would let it rise for a longer period of time, as for thin crispy crust- éncylopedias have been written about that. If I want to achieve such a crust I spritz water over the top of the bread and /or add a pan of boiling water for extra humidity for the first few minutes. Also a baking stone is very helpful. This creates the extra oven spring, or rise which occurs during baking. I don't think olive oil is necessary for what you are looking for. Perhaps a professional bread baker would be more detailed.

Thanks for the video of the garlic sauce, I use lots of garlic but never made something like this. I will need to buy that wooden pounder. Here is another version by Dede Mediterranian cooking, she's very good and has many youtube videos of all kinds of recipes, check it out

I am giving a Syrian cooking lesson in a few days and was searching the web for some lesser known Syrian dishes when I found this interesting site Academy of Syrian Gastronomy http://www.gastrosyr.com/eng/introd.htm Also two interesting Syrian blogs http://www.syriatoday.ca/syrian-supper.htm http://www.mideat.com/category/syrian-cuisine/ You probably saw them all before! If you have any interesting Syrian foodie sites then I would be happy for the information.

My experience is the same. I find that Northerners (areas bordering the Caspian) are the only people for whom garlic is a staple. My family was always paranoid about garlic breath, and we were told to avoid it unless we knew for a fact that we wouldn't have human contact for a day or two. ← ,Thanks so much for your answer. I know that Persians from the Western Azerbaizan province in Iran indeed use lots of garlic, I suppose influenced by the Turks amoung others. I also know that in the North of the country they like to make garlic pickles, sometimes preserved for years. May I ask what part of Iran your family is from? My grandmother comes from Iraq not far from Kordistan province (koysanjak). She, for example, never cooks with garlic because of its strong smell.

I watched an Ethiopian women making ingira and she used 1 cup teff to two cups of water, it should be like pancake batter, otherwise the holes won't form on top. The Yemenite have a similar bread (Lachoch) which is essentially the same as ingira except that wheat flour is used. The technique is the same. When making these breads a nonstick pan is helpful, the batter should be poured in a spiral fashion onto a cold pan, between batches, the pan is cooled upside down under a running faucet. Only one side is cooked until holes form on the top. The teff batter is left to ferment for many hours, I was told that she didn't like her teff very sour so she fermented it only for 24 hours at room temperature and not 3 days like many of her relatives. Even after only a short fermentation time it was a bit hard getting used to the flavour, especially when she dipped my bread in a generous amount of hot sauce at 8 in the morning.

thanks for the link mhjoseph. I think I just might buy a perisan rice cooker but before I do that I will persevere and continue trying to make it using a stainless steal pot if only to be able to showoff to everyone, unless of couse this will take me forever (which it might )

google earth sounds good. While we are at it perhaps voice recognition can be integrated somehow. For example when the waiter comes to bring the food he can say ""here's your fresh salad "" in a microphone and tada! the digital plate or screen can show something related to that. Technology can also be used as ambiance, such as using different light effects, or different colors/designs on the digital screen to add an interesting atmosphere. I don't know if I am the only one but when I am eating I am not sure I want to start pushing buttons.

most unique pie I can think of is passion fruit, but not sure how easy it is to get passion fruit, especially in the middle of winter.

that's an amazingly professional looking oven you are making. Are there blue prints for woodovens or did you design it yourself? I would love to have an oven like that in my backyard.

Very nice. Once while taking a cab, I became friends with the taxi driver, a friendly fellow from Morocco, he's the first one I call if I want a taxi because if I want a recipe he calls one of his many clients to get it for me (like pumpkin spread for fricasee). When he heard I wanted to make couscous, he called his wife to schedule a meeting. Next time I was at a french bakery I picked up a few croissants for him because I knew he was very fond of them.

Hmmm, I recently wrote an article declaring beef tendon the next pork belly, alot of which is just hopefulness on my part, but I suppose that is under the 'offal' category. ← Ah! my favorite topic! First, every country has a different food trend, in Israel food trends change by the season and many times I am hooked to a certain flavor when it swings out of favor and its nowhere to be found. Recently it has been strawberry banana, forest berry (raspberries, strawberries, blue berries), passion fruit, and lemon mint for drinks. I used to love orange pistachio flavored yogurt but that has been out of style for several years. Now there are all genres of restaurants, from Asian, Middle Eastern, European.. where once there were very few. So what I think, at least here, is that traditional home cooked foods will again become very trendy. Perhaps also in the States with all the enthusiasm for molecular gastromomie and strange fusion combinations, the pengulum will again swing to authentic, simple to make foods. but then again....

Good question, if I recall correctly there is some excess moisture but not enough to be a problem, Next time I defrost uncooked falafel I will take a note of it.

Usually when I make falafel I make a large batch and store the unused portion in an airtight box in the freezer. I don't store them as falafel balls but this may be a good idea if you have room in your freezer. I usually finish the frozen mixture within 1 or 2 months and have not noticed any big difference in texture. Of course, if I were to taste a fresh batch and one which was defrosted I might notice a difference. In some falafel chains in Israel that's the way they do it.

I made sabzi polow which came out very tasty except of course for the tah-dig which was carbonized to the stainless steal pot. I followed your steps except did not soak the rice because last time I did that I made rice pudding. The basmati here, it seems is not as hard. I read that when the tag-dig is being formed you can hear it, well it wasn't talking to me, pehaps I just don't understand Persian. My recipe called for yogurt in the tah-dig but 1/2 cup oil? that seemed too much. I will spare you the picture of my poor pot but will post my rice (its hard to make this rice look good though) I have a feeling I will be chucking lots of tah-digs before I get it right even with all the help here, thanks!

I am not sure. When making my own olives (starting with freshly picked olives) I use a 10% brine solution and about 15% vinegar and they kept pretty well for several months at room temperature without rotting or turning soft. I added lemon slices, garlic, grape leaves, bay leaves and black pepper. Before closing the jar I usually add a layer of olive oil to the top. I sterilized the jar before adding the olives. Are the picholine olives completely pickled when you buy them?

that's funny, its a small world. both cuisines are very similar, this much is true but I would think there are differences (perhaps in seasoning or special dishes). Do the Lebanese make the kubba hamda, I wonder? I would love to hear about your trip, I'll be waiting for your post!

I am not Syrian but did learn a few nice recipes from family, books and internet. Someone has scheduled a Syrian cooking lesson in two weeks and I am looking for suggestions on what recipes to teach. I thought about doing the fried kubba, a stuffed dolma (such as onion or grape leaves), rice with lentils or lachmacun and several types of mezze such as eggplant and humus salad. The lesson is about 5 hours. Does anybody have another suggestion or idea? Thanks

Thanks granny and piazzola, I will give it a try, but don't expect miracles, you have been doing tah-dig for at least 40 years, so you are much more experienced!